USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages Blended of 90% Merlot, 5.5% Petit Verdot and 4.5% Tannat, the deep garnet-purple colored 2016 Merlot Howell Mountain struts out of the glass with vivacious notions of preserved plums, Black Forest cake and blackberry compote with touches of baking spices, black soil, truffes and licorice. The palate is full, rich, concentrated and earthy with firm, grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing long and earthy.

The 2014 Stature, which is a Sonoma County (mostly Alexander Valley and Knights Valley) blend representing 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, is dense, concentrated and perfumed with notes of cedar wood, unsmoked cigar tobacco, lavender, blackberry and cassis. There’s also some vanilla from the oak. The wine is full-bodied and concentrated, with sweet tannin and adequate acidity. This wine should drink well for up to 20 or more years.

The 2017s From Sonoma Lastly, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Stature could be thought of as the flagship cuvée. It’s 60% from Alexander Valley and 40% from Knights Valley. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was brought up in 60% new French oak, it’s a pure, classic, beautiful wine that has textbook cassis fruit as well as loads of graphite, lead pencil, smoky oak, tobacco, and even a hint of orange blossom. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, with fine tannins and terrific purity of fruit, it’s approachable today yet will be better with 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15+ years.

There are 400 cases of the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Jackson Estate Napa Mountain. This is also 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged primarily in French oak, of which 55% was new. This comes from their Veeder Peak Estate Vineyard, a site that has provided some fabulous Cabernet Sauvignons over the years. It needs another 4-5 years of bottle age, but it should last three decades or more. Inky purple with notes of blueberry and black raspberry liqueur, cassis, blackberries, new vanillin from oak and a wet, foresty floor note that’s elaborate and penetrating. This is a very full-bodied, powerful, masculine, multidimensional wine of super intensity and purity. Drink over the next 25-30 years.

A fabulous wine that should be purchased by the case is the 2007 Highland Estates Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa's Mt. Veeder. Made from estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon from the Veeder Peak Vineyard, this is a stunningly rich, full-bodied, opulent, blue/purple-colored Cabernet displaying notes of ink, asphalt, creme de cassis, blueberries and hints of underbrush and spring flowers. It is another sensational Cabernet Sauvignon from Mt. Veeder, a tricky sector in the Mayacamas Mountains. A wine for true connoisseurs, this 2007 needs another 4-5 years of cellaring and should be capable of lasting 20-25 years or more. Kendall-Jackson enjoys a well-deserved reputation for over-delivering quality vis à vis price for its wines.

A limited cuvée of 289 cases, the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Mountain (100% from Mt. Veeder) is a gorgeous California Cabernet Sauvignon reminiscent of the Graves wine La Mission Haut-Brion. A scorched earth and volcanic ash character intermixed with loads of smoky cassis, blackberry, and blueberry jump from the glass of this full-bodied wine that is powerful, rich, and built for the long haul. This is a fabulous wine that is actually a super value for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Give it 3-4 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 30 years.

Deep garnet-purple, the 2015 Brooks Road Shiraz has a beautiful fragrance of ripe cherries, mulberries, potpourri, lavender and cinnamon stick with hints of licorice and garrigue. Medium to fullbodied, the palate has bags of vitality, with fresh, juicy blackberries and peppery nuances, contrasted by ripe, rounded tannins. It finishes long and peppery.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2014 Brooks Road Shiraz possesses baked blueberries and Black Forest gateau flavors. This Syrah is meaty - savory in style rather than a fruit-bomb - with dark chocolate and licorice nuances. Rich and full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins, it is more structured on the palate. The finish is long and harmonious.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The medium to deep ruby-purple colored 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Fog Dance Vineyard simply sings of black cherry pie, freshly crushed blackberries and pomegranate with hints of spice cake, dark chocolate and sassafras. Medium to full-bodied, rich and spicy in the mouth, it fills the palate with decadent black berries and a velvety texture, finishing on a lingering peppery note.

USA, Northern California, Napa Valley: 2016 & 2017 – A Tale of Two Vintages The 2016 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Hailey's Block has a medium ruby-purple color and features exuberant notes of Black Forest cake, kirsch and wild blueberries with hints of baking spices and dusty soil. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with juicy red, black and blue fruit layers, framed by plush tannins and finishing on a spicy note.

Red currants, cherries, dried herbs, and smoked earth define the 2015 Pinot Noir Fog Dance Vineyard, one of the more fresh, lively and pure efforts in the lineup. It has a sappy, vibrant, spring flower character, good acidity and a great finish. This is a pretty, vibrant Pinot Noir.

This is only the second vintage produced of this wine. Medium ruby-purple in color, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Warrior Princess opens with warm red currants, black cherries and violets notes with touches of black soil, stewed tea, garrigue and dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied, the palate offers up a very firm structure of wonderfully ripe, grainy tannins, with a refreshing backbone supporting the intense earthy/savory flavors, finishing long.

Medium to deep ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Muldune Trail features expressive mulberries, stewed red plums and dusty earth notes with touches of garrigue, fresh hay, oolong tea and cloves. Medium-bodied with an appealing chewy grip to the texture, the palate gives compelling savory layers with a long, lively finish.

Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 Hartford Court Pinot Noir Arrendell Vineyard has compelling chocolate-covered cherries, raspberry pie and warm mulberries nose with touches of potpourri, Ceylon tea and tobacco leaf. Medium to full-bodied, very finely structured and very fresh, it gives intense black berry and savory layers, finishing on a lingering earthy note.

The 2017s From Sonoma From a site south of Sebastopol planted all to old Wente clones of Chardonnay, the 2016 Chardonnay Jennifer's spent 16 months in 23% new French oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. It’s deeper colored and has a rich, honeyed bouquet of stone fruits, crushed Meyer lemons, orange rind, and crushed rocks. Rich, powerful, and structured on the palate, I expect this singular, exotic white to age nicely.

Tastes like a box of rocks drizzled with citrus oil. Poached pear, orange rind, stony white peach notes, and striking minerality are reminiscent of a Chevalier-Montrachet from the likes of Michel Niellon. With lovely body, acidity, and purity, it should be drunk over the next 4-5 years.

The 2016 Zinfandel Dina's Vineyard is deep, unctuous and full of flavor, yet also has quite a bit of the freshness that is so typical of Russian River Zinfandels, especially in this vintage. The Dina's has a bit more tannin and structure than the other wines in the range, which makes it reticent. Dollops of Alicante add character and personality to this super-expressive Zinfandel from Hartford.

Jolene’s Vineyard comes from head trained vines planted over 100 years ago. It is aged for 12 months in French oak, 55% new and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2015 Zinfandel Jolene’s Vineyard presents black cherry, baked blueberries and blackberry preserves notes with hints of incense, sautéed herbs and dusty earth. Rich, full-bodied and packed with layers of berry coulis and savory flavors, it has a gorgeous velvety texture and great length.

Bright saturated ruby. Extremely dark aromas of crushed blueberry, violet, bitter chocolate, licorice and camphor. Peppery and precise but not green, with outstanding dark fruit and violet intensity accentuated by an electric impression of energy. This seriously tannic Le Desir will need at least eight years of cellaring before it approaches its plane of peak drinkability.

Deep ruby-red. Terrific lift to the aromas of cassis, licorice, mint, minerals and bitter chocolate, accented by herbs and rose petal. The middle palate offers outstanding depth for 2011, as well as terrific definition and energy to the dark berry, nutmeg and cassis leaf flavors. Finishes classically dry, with subtle building length. Seillan told me he uses the malbec for spice, not to add color or volume. A huge success for the vintage.

Good deep red-ruby. Complex aromas of cherry, plum, musky brown spices, licorice and menthol lifted by a floral topnote. Quite dry and youthfully imploded initially, then opened to show a creamy sweetness and growing pliancy to its red fruit and mineral flavors. This has firmed up since I saw it in barrel a year ago, while La Joie has become more harmonious. The most tannic of this outstanding trio of 2007s today, with the structure for a long and positive evolution in bottle.

Bright ruby-red. Black fruits, licorice and cedar on the nose. Broad and round but backward, with a distinctly medicinal reserve to the flavors of black fruits, menthol and smoke. The middle palate is currently dominated by the wine's spine and yet the very long finish is lush and sweet. The least obviously minerally of these three 2006s today, but offers great potential.

(65% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot) Bright ruby-red. Black and blue fruits complicated by licorice, minerals and fresh herbs on the nose. Rich, broad, lush and full, even if it conveys less easy sweetness and personality today than the Muse (but then this is Seillan's Pauillac-style blend). Best today on the sensational back half, which features a major coating of suave tannins and an extremely long, aromatic finish that reverberates with subtle floral tones. Interestingly, this cabernet-based wine has a higher pH than the merlot-based Muse: 3.78 vs. 3.64.

Good bright ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of cassis, black cherry, graphite, iron, tobacco, menthol and spice cake. Lush and broad on entry, then sweeter and lusher in the middle palate than the Muse, with a captivating chocolatey quality and outstanding volume. As rich and full as this is, there's no sense of excess weight. Finishes long, dense and palate-saturating with major dusty tannins. This Pauillac is sweeter and deeper than Seillan's Pomerol, a comment on the comparative quality of cabernet sauvignon and merlot in California's North Coast.

Very pale yellow. Captivating nose combines exotic apricot, white plum, crushed rock, brown spices and a lavender high note. Intense and tactile on entry, then tightly coiled and penetrating in the middle, a step up over the foregoing wines in its impression of acid spine. Very powerful, youthfully aggressive, palate-staining wine that will need time in bottle to open and expand. Less thick and sweet at the same stage than the 2008, but at the same time more glycerol than the 2009 Gravel Bench. A great example of a California chardonnay, by which I mean that I would not mistake it for Burgundy in a blind tasting.